Disembodied souls
Subtitle: the Nefesh in Israel and kindred spirits in the ancient Near East, with an appendix on the Katumuwa Inscription
By: Richard C. Steiner
Series: Society of Biblical Literature ancient Near East monographs -- number 11; Ancient Near East monographs -- v. 11.
Publisher: SBL Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Atlanta
Language: eng
Number of pages: 210
ISBN-13: 9781628370782; 9781628370768; 9781628370775
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Aramaic Inscriptions; Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish; Bible; Nefesh (The Hebrew word); Language, style
Description: Biblical scholars have long claimed that the Israelites "could not conceive of a disembodied nefesh [soul]." In this book, Richard C. Steiner rejects that claim based on a broad spectrum of textual, linguistic, archaeological, and anthropological evidence spanning the millennia from prehistoric times to the present. The biblical evidence includes a prophecy of Ezekiel condemning women who pretend to trap the wandering souls of sleeping people - prophecy that has been only partially understood until now because of the obscure technical terms that it contains. The extrabiblical evidence suggests that a belief in the existence of disembodied souls was part of the common religious heritage of the peoples of the ancient Near East.--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-198) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: A disembodied nbsh at Samal and its ancient near eastern kinfolk; title: Women trapping souls; title: Pillows and pillow casings; title: Cloth patches as pillow filling; title: Souls in bags; title: Pillow-traps for dream-souls; title: From dream-souls to bird-souls; title: Disembodied npshot; title: Conclusions; title: The Katumuwa inscription from Zincirli; title: The meaning of letsoded.